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You MUST Expand to the Web!
by Mike Banks Valentine
Many web developers have developed a rather haughty attitude
toward who should be and who shouldn't be online. I believe this
stems from the frustration encountered in explaining to those
clients new to the web, that they must take very seriously the
responsibility of being online. That responsibility includes:
1) You MUST answer all e-mail within 24 hours and preferably
sooner. Web savvy customers want response almost immediately!
2) You MUST keep your site information current and update often!
There is no excuse for stale, inaccurate information online!
3) You MUST make a solid and continuing commitment to your site
and assign the tasks involved to an employee or commit to
spending the necessary time yourself!
Just as we have gone from "Do you have a fax machine?" to "What
is your fax number?", so too are we moving rapidly away from "Do
you have a web site?" toward "What is your web address?". How is
it that we accept the need for the fax machine, the copy machine,
the phone and the computer, but not a web site?
I like to compare the argument to the emerging days of that
new-fangled invention, the telephone. I can see business owners
in the first half of the century grumbling that they don't need
a telephone because their customers have to come in to buy stuff
anyway. "Why would they want to ring me up and talk to me from a
distance on that contraption? I can't afford to have it anyway!
Who will answer the thing when I have customers in the store?
What if it breaks down - who will fix it? What if I can't get
the phone when it rings because I'm occupied with work?"
I know an attorney with a quarter-page display ad in the yellow
pages. She pays $1,000 a month for that privilege. She has one
employee who answers the phone, takes messages and screens calls
for her. We've discussed doing a web site for her business and
she is reluctant to make that move because it means she has to
answer e-mails and keep the site maintained. I just don't see
the difference in having the employee answer the phone and
answering e-mail, maintaining client files and maintaining the
web site!
Those small businesses that post ANY kind of web sites
and DON'T maintain them and DON'T answer their e-mail are
foolish and it WILL hurt their business just like ignoring
phone calls and doing without an answering machine will hurt
their business. But inattention to business will destroy any
entrepreneur, no matter what else they do. The web presence
will become as common and as expected as a telephone to small
business.
Having a professional look with interactive pages and fancy
graphics are bonuses, not requirements. What IS required is
that the web site be maintained and that e-mails are treated
as just as important as phone calls. Don't get a phone if you
don't intend to answer it. Don't provide an e-mail link if
you don't intend to respond to e-mails. DON'T have a web site
if you don't intend to keep it current and aren't prepared to
provide the utility your customers demand.
It won't be long before every business will be expected to be
online, just as they are expected to have a telephone and a fax
and an answering machine. Size will always determine resource
allocation. Hire a professional if you can, but get online now!
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WebSite101 "Reading List" Weekly Netrepreneur Tip Sheet
Weekly Ezine emphasizing small business on the Internet
http://website101.com/arch/
e-tutorial online at: http://website101.com/shortcourse.html
By week's end you're ready expand your business to the web!
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